Hong Kong Ballet's anniversary short film highlights ballet's universal language

Hong Kong Ballet (香港芭蕾舞團) has unveiled an alien-themed short film to celebrate its 45th anniversary and the universal language of dance.

Titled "Tutu Academy" (Tutu學院), the film is done in collaboration with design-centric agency Design Army and CG agency Tonic. It centres around the story of an unconventional school where the language of dance transcends all communication barriers.

Drawing inspiration from Degas’ ballerina portraits, the Renaissance age, and artistic pop, the film is set in retro-futuristic Hong Kong and follows an alien navigating a strange and new environment. The work reimagines classic ballet while staying authentic to Hong Kong culture.

With iconic places such as Tai Kwun, High Island Reservoir (萬宜水庫) and the University of Hong Kong as background, the film features over 50 dancers from Hong Kong Ballet and blends Hong Kong culture into the classical dance moves.

Ultimately, the alien finds acceptance and happiness through the universal language of ballet. The short film captures dance as a universal language that can foster connections even with aliens. It aims to remind the audience of the beauty in making meaningful connections and new friendships, despite the weirdness and wonder of the world, regardless of one's origins.

Artistic director Septime Webre said, "Set in retro-futuristic Hong Kong, it follows a space alien as he navigates a strange, new environment and finds acceptance and happiness through the universal language of ballet, reminding us all of the beauty of meaningful connections in our weird and wonderful world."

Targeting the mass and cultural lovers, Hong Kong Ballet has adopted a series of mediums to promote the campaign, including all online platforms such as Instagram, a spokesperson from Hong Kong Ballet told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

It has also leveraged out-of-home (OOH) advertising such as SOGO mega TV, Harbour City LED walls display, and Hong Kong Cultural Centre TV display. In terms of print media coverage, it has utilised house programmes of Swan Lake and international media exposure such as Adweek, Creative Boom, and Hong Kong LEI.

Recently, Hong Kong Ballet has partnered with Harbour City to celebrate its 45th anniversary. As part of the collaboration, Hong Kong Ballet has held a press conference at Harbour City on 5 June to unveil the collaboration with 60 media and influencers. 

Established in 1979, Hong Kong Ballet comprised of 50 dancers from all over the globe, such as Hong Kong, Mainland China, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America.

Tutu Academy represents the kick-off of Hong Kong Ballet’s 2024/25 season with various full-length productions such as The Wizard of Oz, The Butterfly Lovers (梁山伯與祝英台), Frida (芙烈達), Giselle (吉賽爾) and The Nutcracker.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Ballet has expanded its training offerings to a new purpose-built Wong Chuk Hand location in Spring and has renamed the programme the Hong Kong Academy of Ballet.

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